


Medal Ceremony

by rebel_wren



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, if han and luke got medals for the death star then the crew gets medals for lothal, reference to ezra's disappearance, reference to jacen too kinda, references to jedi night, takes place shortly after finale, this is depressing and i cried writing it so youre welcome, vague allusion to sex lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 09:52:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14691702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: After Lothal is freed, the crew returns to Yavin IV and is honored for their efforts, which is more painful than they'd have thought.





	Medal Ceremony

“-for your role in pushing the Empire out of the planet of Lothal, we’d like to thank all three of you. You’ve all accomplished undeniable amounts for this rebellion, and we cannot honor you enough.”

Leia Organa puts the medal over Sabine’s neck, then Hera’s, and then Zeb stoops his head down so she could put one on his. She smiles at all of them as the rebels on Yavin 4 applaud, and Hera can’t help but think about how close in age she is to Ezra. As the cheers slowly fade, Leia speaks again.

“We also know that the Jedi Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger-” just hearing their names sends pain straight to Hera’s heart, and a quick look at Sabine and Zeb’s faces tell her they felt it too, “-were key to this success as well. Unfortunately, they cannot be with us today, so we’d like to offer General Syndulla and her crew these medals to honor them, as well as our condolences.”

Leia hands the two medals to Hera, who nods appreciatively. The crowd erupts into cheers again, and Hera looks at the medals in her hands, her reflection appearing golden and distorted. She looks up at Sabine and Zeb, both with sad smiles on their faces.

The cheering eventually ends, as does the ceremony, and they’re all making their way through the crowd, trying to go home for the night. Chopper follows behind what remains of what the Ghost Crew, and they walk in near silence until Hera hears a voice behind them.

“General Syndulla!” They all turn around, and they see Bail Organa approaching them. His hair has greyed much since their first meeting with him years ago, and he wears a simple, dark Alderaanian cloak. He bows his head quickly and respectfully to Hera.

“Congratulations, all three of you.”

Hera smiles and nods towards him. “Thank you for all of... this,” she gestures to the remnants the medal ceremony had left. “But it wasn’t needed.”

“We had to honor you somehow, and I hope you think Leia did a good job.”

“She did. Your daughter is an incredible young woman.”

He chuckles quietly. “I’d have to agree.” He pauses, swallowing quickly and shifting his weight. “My wife and I would like to tell you how sorry we are for your loss. Jarrus was a good man, and Leia has spoken highly of Ezra.”

Zeb’s ears are pressed flat to his head sadly, and Sabine straightens up, as if she wanted to say something but then decided against it. Hera smiles at him, but there is hurt etched on her face.

“Thank you, Senator Organa.”

He nods briefly. “Well, I’ll let you head home, then. I’ll see you soon enough, I’m sure.”

With that he leaves, and catches up to Leia, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to kiss the top of her head.

Hera, Zeb and Sabine all share forlorn glances and walk home, the only sound following them being the occasional bump that Chopper hits on the rocky Yavin 4 ground.

* * *

Sabine goes to her room immediately upon arriving back to the _Ghost_ , and Hera only sighs. She hands one of the medals to Zeb.

“You could put this in your room, if you want.”

Zeb nods, taking it carefully. Even though the message Ezra had left said that he could take the top bunk back, they all knew he hadn’t, but no one said anything. They understood why. When the door to Zeb’s room closed, Hera takes Kanan’s medal to his room. She hadn’t gone in it since everything had happened, and being in there made her feel like somehow, he was still there.

As she stares down at the medal, a lump forming in her throat and tears welling in her eyes, she knew exactly what he’d do if he came in. He’d slide an arm over her shoulders, and kiss the side of her head, laughing in his usual Kanan way.

_Don’t cry,_ he’d say. _We’ve got each other’s backs, Hera, we don’t have anything to worry about. Let’s just go to bed, come on. You need some rest._

Hera found the corner of her lip curling up ever so slightly as a hand went to her abdomen. A lot of resting, that’s definitely what they did in here.

She starts to hang the medal on Kanan’s bed. Before she even realizes it, she’s talking aloud to him.

“I know it’s probably a little flashy for your taste, love, but that’s how they wanted to honor us.”

Her voice starts to break on the last words, and she closes her eyes, the tears in her eyes finally rolling down her cheeks. Ever since her rescue, her head hadn’t stopped swimming.

Why did she wait so long to tell him how she felt? Why’d she keep him at a distance for so long? If she hadn’t been captured, he’d still be here. What was she going to do without him by her side?

Her mind drifts to Ezra. Why wasn’t she paying attention? Why couldn’t she have gone up and got him? Why did she let their original plan fail? She had sworn to herself when she took him in that she’d protect him, how could she have let this happen?

She doesn’t even realize someone else had come in until she feels a big hand on her shoulder. She turns around to see Zeb, though her vision is blurry with tears. He smiles kindly and slowly pulls her into a hug.

“I miss them too.”

She lets out a small, quiet sob into his chest, and she hears him sniffle too. He sighs.

“And Hera?”

“Hm?”

“None of it is your fault.”

She lets out a shaky breath. Deep down, somewhere, she knows he’s right. But that doesn’t mean she’s ready to accept it. It’s easier, somehow, to take the blame, even if she doesn’t know why.

“Thank you, Zeb.”

“Anytime.”

They pull away from the hug, Hera wiping away tears, and she thinks she sees Zeb quickly do the same.

“We should sleep.”

Zeb nods. “Sounds smart.”

He puts an arm over her shoulder, and they walk out of Kanan’s room. Hera takes one look back at the medal hanging on Kanan’s bed, and then the door shuts.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! It means a lot and I really hope you liked it! (Also this is my first 1k fic! Thank you!)


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